At the heart of the free enterprise system is the basic activity of marketing. Many potentially viable products that have significant value have failed to reach the marketplace simply because of ineffective or inadequate marketing. Without knowledge of the product, the consumer has no incentive or means to give consideration to purchasing a product. Marketing provides the system for educating the consumer both as to the need and the corresponding product solution.
One marketing approach that is as old as commerce itself is the process of placing advertisements on signs that are positioned along thoroughfares of traffic. Such signs are typically classified by their intended audience, which is usually a function of audience size. For example, signs along walkways are usually small in size because the audience consists of individual persons passing at a rather slow pace. These include signs in store windows along sidewalks and city streets, where both pedestrians and passengers in automobiles are able to glance at the sign and capture a basic message. Such signs depend upon a slow rate of speed to enable the audience to linger on its content for sufficient time to read and understand the advertisement. Effective locations of such signs are generally limited to concentrated areas of population within cities where the audience is primarily pedestrian traffic or in slow-moving vehicles.
An interesting variation of such small-sign advertising is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,352, by L. L. White. This patent discusses placing small signs at intersections on the back of stop signs, enabling the use of the stop sign as a support device for the advertisement. This is consistent with small-sign advertising because the sign locations are within cities where traffic speeds are slow. Furthermore, vehicle traffic is accustomed to slowing down at intersections, particularly where stop signs are present. Accordingly, small-sign advertising may be effective at these locations.
A different category of marketing is the large-sign advertisement, typically referred to as billboard advertising. Billboards are designed for use along high-speed roadways and other areas where the audience size may be classified as large, enabling a mass marketing approach. In these situations, marketing strategies are quite different from the small-sign environment because the message must be very concise and focused, otherwise the vehicle occupant is gone before there is opportunity to grasp the purpose of the ad. Graphic content of the billboard must be very large to be visible, and configured to attract attention in the blink of an eye. Accordingly, both the logistics and content of billboard advertising require a different mentality in design, construction and use, as compared to other marketing techniques.
Because of the large spatial requirements of billboards, significant controversy has developed because of adverse environmental impact. Some communities oppose billboards, desiring to preserve the aesthetic appeal of the natural environment surrounding the roadways. Many businesses, however, rely on billboard advertising to access consumers as part of their marketing program. Obviously, each side of this debate has strong points that deserve consideration. It is apparent that excessive use of billboards blocks the visual access of the public to natural surroundings, frequently limiting the enjoyment of trees, gardens, and other natural highlights. It is also recognized that such advertising stimulates sales, leading to more jobs and a healthy economy—an interest clearly important to the public welfare. As a consequence, the use of billboards is typically regulated by federal and local government through zoning requirements that attempt to balance the validity of each side of the issue.
It is apparent that there has been a long-existing need for alternative marketing methods to accommodate the valuable commercial resource of highway advertising, while at the same time protecting the aesthetic beauty of natural resources.